Rotatable christmas tree stand



March 4, 1952 c TACY 2,587,788

ROTATABLE CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed July 1, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet lImvemor March 4, 1952 c. F. TACY 2,587,788

ROTATABLE CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed July 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 %MIJSnnenior Gttomeg March 4, 1952 F, TACY 2,587,788

ROTATABLE CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed July 1, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 j a af ,9.

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Gttorneg Patented Mar. 4, 1952 OFFICE ROTATABLE o rsrivms rims STANDClaris F. Tacy, Oakdale, Pa.

Application July I 1943, Serial N 0.. 102,614 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-457This invention relates to display stands or supports and moreparticularly to rotating stands for Christmas trees or the like.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a Christmas treestand having power means whereby the trees may be rotated while in theerect position.

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby the powermeans may operate a musical instrument while the tree is rotated.

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby eachcircuit of a plurality of circuits of electric lights on the Christmastree may be successively lighted.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stand from which theChristmas tree supporting membermay be removed to provide a usefulrotatable display stand.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a stand forChristmas trees in which the Christmas tree supporting member isfrictionally resting on a plate which freely rests on balls oranti-friction bearings thereby completely releasing the drivingmechanism including the musical instrument from the Christmas treesupporting member should any accidental obstruction prevent theChristmas tree supporting member from rotating While the motor isrunmng.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear from thefollowing description considered with the accompanying drawings in whichFigure 1 is a perspective view showing the Christmas tree stand of thisinvention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a partial section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. I

Figure 4 is a partial section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a partial section on the line i5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatical showing of the electrical circuit of myinvention.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the stand of my invention partially cutaway to show the tree supporting member removed.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the removable tree supporting member andcontact disc.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a rotating Christmas treestand comprising a base It! having a power element I, which ispreferably an electric motor, mounted thereon and connected to avertically extending drive shaft I2.

A socket I3 for slidably receiving the tree supporting member I4 isremovably connected to the vertically extending main drive shaft- !2 byslots l5 slidably engaging a pin |6 through the head ll of the shaft H.The socket i3 is mounted on antifriction bearings l8 on a plate i9supported above the power element I by a bracket 23. The tree supportingmember M, in the form of an open ended cylinder, is adapted to surroundthe end of a tree trunk 2| and hold it in position by holding means suchas thumb screws 22. A circular plate 23 rests on ball bearings 24 in thesocket l3 and frictionally supports the tree supporting member H.

A pin studded drum 25 of a musical instrument, the pins of which drumare adapted to engage the teeth of a musical comb 26, is secured on ashaft 21 driven from the main drive shaft I2 by a pair of miter gears28. The shaft 2? is j'ournaled in. a bracket 29 which is mounted on asupporting member 30, upon which is also mounted the musical comb 26.

A revolving contact disc 3| of insulating material, carrying a series offemale electrical receptacles 32 on its upper surface, is centralizedabout the socket l3 and is frictionally secured to supporting member Hi,the bottom of which is in frictional contact with circular plate orwasher 23 and is adapted to be rotated thereby.

Each of the female electrical receptacles is adapted to receive a maleelectrical plug 33 of one circuit of lights. A series of contactsegments 34 corresponding in number to the number of female electricalreceptacles 32 is embedded in the under surface of the contact disc 3|and each segment is connected to one of two contact elements in thecorresponding receptacle. A circular collector ring 35 is also mountedin the under side or the contact disc 3| and connected to the othercontact element of each receptacle. A spring loaded contact brush 36mounted in the plate |9 is adapted to contact successively the contactsegments 34 as the contact disc 3| revolves. A second spring loadedcontact brush 3? mounted in the plate I9 is adapted to continuouslycontact the collector ring 35 as the contact disc 3| revolves. Each ofthese contact brushes 36 and 31 are connected to opposite sides 38 and39 of an external source of electricity in parallel with leads 40 and 4|leading to the power element II when the said power element is anelectric motor. As the contact disc 3| is revolved by the motor l|through the socket l3, the contact brush 36 successively makes contactwith each of the contact segments 34 thereby succescontact brush circuitand the motor circuit, either the lights or the driving motor rnaybeindepend-. V

ently operated.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings it will be observed that therevolving contact. disc 3| and the Christmas tree supporting member l4,

both of which represent a unit, may be automatically stopped fromrotating should accidental overload prevent the tree from rotating. -.Inthat case the lowermost edge of the tree supporting member, whichfrictionally engages the top of the circular plate or washer .23 thatrests on the balls 24, as shown, will slip without stopping the motorincluding the socket or blowing a fuse. This feature makes the devicefoolproof and safe.

A cover 42 in two parts 43 and 44 is mounted on the base H3 so as toenclose the operating structure completely with the exception of theupper surface of the contact disc 3|. The-upper part 44 of the cover 42is perforated with.openings.45 to permit the musical sounds toescap'e'freely from the structure.

It is believed that from the above description the operation of thevarious parts of the rotating stand will be apparent without furthercomment.

While I have illustrated and described a present preferred embodiment ofmy invention, it will be understood that it may be otherwise 'ernbodiedwithin the scope of the following claims: I claim: 1. In a rotatableChristmas tree stand or the like having a power driven rotating elementand, a rotatable pin drum driven thereby in contact with a musical comb,the improvement comprising a socket removably keyed to said power drivenrotating element, a tree supporting element adapted to fit in saidsocket and rest upon a circular plate in frictional engagementtherewith, bearing members between said circular plate and the socketwhereby the tree supporting element and plate are carried along with thesocket in rotation but may be halted without halting the socket.

'2. In a rotatable Christmas tree stand or the like having a powerdriven rotating element, the

improvement comprising a socket removably fiyed to said power drivenrotating element, a hollow tree supporting element having an externaldiameter smaller than the internal diameter of the socket whereby saidtree supporting element-1s freely movable in the socket, a circularplate member upon which said tree supporting element rests in frictionalengagement therewith, said circular plate member being freely rotatablein the socket and in frictional engagementtherewith through at least onerotatable bearing member whereby the tree supporting element and thecircular plate member are carried along with the socket in rotation butmay be halted without halting the socket CLARIS F. TACY.

' I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Echardt Jan. 8, 1878 Campbell July 15,1902 Brach Mar. 7, 1916 Garrett Aug. 21, 1934 Doring Jan. 15, 1935 TacyJan. 15, 1935 Harris et a1 June 18, 1935 Waalkes Apr. 6, 1937 PetroccaMar. 28, 1944 Unkles et a1 June 10, 1947 Masone May 10, 1949

